Hi Blog. Let me just quote somebody else, since she put it so well on The Community List:

=======================Did anyone happen to catch this story on Yahoo today? I wonder if Japan will get a clue and follow with similar (i.e. realistic) statistics or if they will continue hyping “increase in foreign crime” for political purposes? Tina Koyama, Niigata
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Immigrants are far less likely than the average U.S.-born citizen to commit crime in California, the most populous state in the United States, according to a report issued late on Monday.

People born outside the United States make up about 35 percent of California’s adult population but account for about 17 percent of the adult prison population, the report by the Public Policy Institute of California showed.

According to the report’s authors the findings suggest that long-standing fears of immigration as a threat to public safety are unjustified. The report also noted that U.S.- born adult men are incarcerated at a rate more than 2 1/2 times greater than that of foreign-born men.

“Our research indicates that limiting immigration, requiring higher educational levels to obtain visas, or spending more money to increase penalties against criminal immigrants will have little impact on public safety,” said Kristin Butcher, co-author of the report and associate professor of economics at Wellesley College.

The study did not differentiate between documented immigrants and illegal immigrants.

The question of what to do about the millions of undocumented workers living in the United States has been one of the major issues in the U.S. presidential election. Mexico, which accounts for a high proportion of illegal immigrants in California, was deeply disappointed at the U.S. Congress’ failure to pass President George W. Bush’s overhaul of immigration laws last year.

When Butcher and her co-author, Anne Morrison Piehl, associate professor of economics at Rutgers University, considered all those committed to institutions including prison, jails, halfway houses and the like, they found an even greater disparity.

Among men 18 to 40, the population most likely to be in institutions because of criminal activity, the report found that in California, U.S.-born men were institutionalized 10 times more often than foreign-born men (4.2 percent vs. 0.42 percent).

Among other findings in the report, non-citizen men from Mexico 18 to 40 — a group disproportionately likely to have entered the United States illegally — are more than eight times less likely than U.S.-born men in the same age group to be in a correctional institution (0.48 percent vs. 4.2 percent).

“From a public safety standpoint, there would be little reason to further limit immigration, to favor entry by high-skilled immigrants, or to increase penalties against criminal immigrants,” the report said.

Interesting story. Now, string together a few seemingly disparate news items of late. Take this article and its final paragraph, ““From a public safety standpoint, there would be little reason to further limit immigration, to favor entry by high-skilled immigrants, or to increase penalties against criminal immigrants,” the report said.”
And then add NHK General reporting Friday Feb 29 1930h Navigation that there were 2.1 jobs per university job seeker for the Spring hiring season in 2008. That’s a 50% shortfall in needed candidates. Factor in the low birthrate, 2.1, isn’t it? Then the high ageing rate. From a demographic viewpoint alone, it would appear that the Japanese economy is in way worse shape than the “ein Volk” powers that be are prepared to admit. (A foolhardy reliance on robots to fill this gap will not work.)
Then hark back to the Japan Times on January 7 2008, when the former UK Ambassador Hugh Cortazzi said that Japan “would rather acquiesce to inevitable economic decline rather than accept significantly higher rates of immigration” and all that it implies.
To say that the country is in deep doo-doo might be an understatement.

What I’m really waiting for is the torrent of apologies, marching in the streets and international diplomatic wrangling which will follow the announcement that the rape charges against the US Marine have been dropped. I’m waiting for Fukuda to call the false charges, “Unforgiveable!” (I guess I shouldn’t hold my breath?

Kudos for the report, but I would just like to point out that the Public Policy Institute of California is an independent, private organization. Therefore comparison with the Japanese government/NPA may not quite be appropriate. There may be independent researchers in Japan who also take such a reasonable view. Perhaps the difference is that we don’t hear about them from the media here.

[quote]What I’m really waiting for is the torrent of apologies, marching in the streets and international diplomatic wrangling which will follow the announcement that the rape charges against the US Marine have been dropped. I’m waiting for Fukuda to call the false charges, “Unforgiveable!” (I guess I shouldn’t hold my breath?
[/quote]

That is not going to happen. Just like these items did not receive much press in Japan:

Try picking up a Japanese (Okinawa) newspaper to see if there is any additional reporting on the rape of a 13-year old girl from Uruma, Okinawa who was raped by a 30-year old Okinawain. Sourse: Sankei Shinbun (Okinawa Editor (?)):